“I remember a time when I was nine years old. I got in trouble in school for stealing something out of someone’s backpack, and she picked me up and she sat me down in the car,” the “Scream Queens” starlet recalled in the September issue of Town and Country.

“And she turned to me and said, ‘Are you going to grow up to be an a–hole?’ And I started crying. She talked to me like an adult my whole life. I always think that now: I don’t want to grow up to be an a–hole!”

Nearly eight months have passed following the tragic deaths of Fisher, who suffered a fatal heart attack in late December, and grandmother Debbie Reynolds, who died of a stroke a day later, Lourd, 25, has taken their guidance in stride as she steps into the spotlight solo.

“I’ve always kind of lived in their shadows, and now is the first time in my life when I get to own my life and stand on my own,” she told “American Horror Story: Cult” co-star Sarah Paulson. “I love being my mother’s daughter, and it’s something I always will be, but now I get to be just Billie.”

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Lourd added that she could always count on her mother’s support, even in her final days.

“The last time I saw her in person, this episode of ‘Scream Queens’ was on, and it was a big episode for me. I had tons of scenes, and I was so hard on myself about it—I hated how I looked, hated my performance. I was really frustrated,” Lourd explained.

“She told me, ‘Come over right now. I want to watch this with you.’ And she made me sit down and watch it, and she forced me to see the good parts. She was incredible like that. But she was really hard on me, saying, ‘Shut up, you’re great in this. Have faith in yourself. Be more confident,'” she continued.

While Lourd plans to keep her mother’s home, there are aspects of Fisher’s legacy she may not incorporate into her own.

“From my mom, maybe living too out in the open,” Lourd explained. “It’s good to a certain extent. It’s good to be authentic, to help other people, but if it’s not helping other people, then don’t do it. There were a couple incidents I wish she could have kept to herself. But, you know, that was the beauty of her.”